Domaine Les Roches Bleues "L’Héronde" Côte de Brouilly '20

L’Héronde is very floral, with pronounced spiciness coming from the blue schist soils, and savory, tasty red fruit flavors, and with firm structure and density derived from low-yielding old vines. This wine is a Cru Beaujolais built to improve for a decade or more, but it’s hard not to drink it right away.

Whole bunches are handpicked in small crates and selected in the vineyard. Spontaneous, whole-cluster, semi-carbonic maceration is carried out for 14 days, then followed by a very gentle and slow pressing using a traditional old wooden vertical press. The must is transferred into temperature-controlled cement tanks, where fermentation continues with native yeasts. After racking, the wine rests for 18 months in 35-hectoliter old French foudres before being bottled unfiltered. 4,500 bottles produced.

This is a rare example of Gamay that will thrill those who are already fans of the variety and change the perceptions of those who aren’t yet. The nose evokes dark raspberry, blueberry, and plum, with notes of fresh lilac and peony, hibiscus, mint leaf, green pepper, and flint. The barrel aging here shows in the notes of toasted spices and the well-integrated tannins. The 2020 vintage in Beaujolais was an excellent one, and “L’Héronde” has all the markers that it will age well, with its balance of ripeness and freshness, and its long, supple finish.